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Heightened security will greet Assemblyman Brooks on Opening Day of 2013 Legislature

Officials at the Nevada Legislature fully expect “embattled” Assemblyman Steven Brooks, D-North Las Vegas, to be in Carson City Monday for the opening of the 2013 Nevada Legislature, said Legislative Counsel Bureau Director Rick Combs.

“That is our plan, that he is going to (attend),” Combs said. “We have not heard anything otherwise. We plan on him being here.”

Yet Brooks will be greeted with heightened security in the Assembly Chamber, Combs said.

“I am not going to disclose to you what our additional security measures are because it may not help to have that disclosed,” Combs said. “But you can image, there are a lot of nervous people in the building, so we are taking additional precautions.”

All of this has cast a paranoid pall over the Legislature. This Brooks incident – complete with guns, ammo and mental health questions -- comes in the midst of a national frenzy over guns and mass shootings.

"We are taking additional security precautions just because of the events that have happened over the last month and the heighten sense of concern that the employees --especially in the building -- have,” Combs said

Assembly Democratic leaders also want to create a separate committee to deal specifically with issues surrounding the behavior of Brooks, Combs said.

“The speaker (Kirkpatrick) has indicated her intention to create a select committee, sometime next week, and that committee would be charged with just hearing the matter of Mr. Brooks,” Combs. “It will have investigative powers and the authority to refer it to a special council, if that is what the committee decides.

Combs said the select committee “would be for the purpose, if any, what disciplinary action needs to be taken. Clearly, one of the disciplinary actions the Assembly has at its disposal is the two-thirds vote to expel a member.”

As first reported by Jon Ralston, Brooks requested 20 seats in the Assembly chamber for Monday’s Opening Day of the Legislature. The request was returned to the Legislature after midnight Friday, Combs said.

Combs said asking for 20 seats is “on the high end” but noted Brooks also asked for 20 seats on Opening Day when he first took office for the 2011 Legislature.